Intel said to accelerate low-power CPU development

Sources in the PC industry revealed to DigiTimes that Intel is accelerating the development of its next-generation, low-power mobile processors in order to gear up for a big comeback around mid-2013.

So far, Intel has failed to catch up with ARM in the smartphone and tablet markets, but the sources believe that the new Clover Trail Atom processor will enable the chip giant to close the gap with ARM.

Despite recent news negatively affecting market observers' evaluations of Intel's future performance, the upcoming Intel low-power chips designed for handsets and tablets are seen as a milestone for the company. The new line of low-power processors will see power consumption move closer to that rival ARM's, while reducing production costs through a process shrink, the sources indicated.

Intel recently announced the upcoming retirement of CEO Paul Otellini, followed by speculation that Apple is considering replacing Intel processors in its Mac PCs with designs based on ARM's architecture.